As you research your selected guitarist, you will need to note some specific information from his or her life and career. Include the following in your final writing:
Written Information: As you enter information, the area will expand. Make sure to check the required details of the assignment.
Wes Montgomery was noted for his incredible technique for playing octaves on the guitar.
Works Cited
Sources: Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to complete your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation.
sample:
"Wes Montgomery." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1990. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 10 Jan. 2012.
"Wes Montgomery." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 88. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 13 Jan. 2012.
Guitarist Research Notes Table
Information Feature
Your Findingscells will expand as you enter your findings
The guitar style I am researching is:
Jazz
The artist I am researching is:
Wes Montgomery This is his nickname. He was named John Leslie Montgomery at birth.
This guitarist lived from
March 6, 1923 to June 15, 1968 He he died unexpectedly of a heart attack in Indianapolis at the age of forty-five.
Describe the guitar style you are researching.
What kind of musical training did the guitarist have?
no formal trainin
could not read music
What types of music influenced this artist?
Jazz music
Name some musicians who influenced the guitarist you are researching.
Charlie Christian
Has this guitarist played more than one style? If so, what other styles?
Yes. pop and rhythm & blues (r & b later in life)
What type of guitar does this musician play?
What are some interesting facts about your guitarist’s childhood?
His brother Monk bought him his first guitar.
known as "Wes" from an early age
What did this guitarist do before he became famous?
Took day jobs, often as a welder, to support his family, Played in local clubs in his spare time. Then played with Lionel Hampton's orchestra (1948-50) Montgomery toured internationally and appeared frequently on radio broadcasts, several of which were recorded. Unlike many Hampton alumni, however, he did not go on immediately to small-group or solo gigs. Instead he returned to Indianapolis, working again in factories by day and playing at night. A major factor in that decision was undoubtedly the fact that his family was growing steadily; with a number of small children at home--he eventually had seven.
List two interesting facts about the guitarist’s life.
showed no early musical aptitude or desire
His inability to read music led to his development of a fine ear; he heard music rather than saw it on a page.
At the age of nineteen, shortly after he was married, Montgomery heard a recording of "Solo Flight" by the Benny Goodman Orchestra with Charlie Christian on guitar. The impression was such that Montgomery immediately purchased an electric guitar, an amplifier, and as many Christian recordings as he could find, listening carefully to the guitar solos and learning to play them note for note. Montgomery's neighbors complained about the noise, however, so he abandoned the guitar pick in favor of plucking the strings with his thumb. He found the resulting sound mellow and pleasing. Later, while experimenting with different styles and approaches, he discovered the technique that would become his signature. Gary Giddins, in Riding on a Blue Note, explains: "Almost as an extension of that dulcet, singing tone, he began to work in octaves--voicing the melody line in two registers."
established a distinctive, highly influential style characterized by the use of his thumb instead of a traditional pick.
List two albums or songs your artist released, the dates they were released and why they are important.
1) The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (1960). It was not just the sound that Montgomery produced, but, as Sallis says, "the intensity of his music one responded to, the power and personality of it. When Wes hit a string you felt it, and it wasn't just a note, a C sharp or a B flat, it was part of a story he was telling you."
2) In 1967, Montgomery recorded A Day in the Life. The title track not only became a popular hit, but the album became the best-selling jazz album of 1967 and one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.
Who is playing this style of music today? What do you like about his/her style?
What legacy has this guitarist left to the world of music?
His long, impassioned solos and a distinctive habit of simultaneously playing two notes an octave apart, Wes created a shimmering, impressionistic sound that many listeners found hard to forget.
Legendary guitarist Joe Pass simply says this about Montgomery's place in musical history: "To me, there have been only three real innovators on the guitar--Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, and Django Reinhardt," as cited in James Sallis's The Guitar Players. This high praise is a testament to the ability of a man of contradictions: Montgomery was a musician who never learned to read music, and he enjoyed commercial success rarely afforded to jazz musicians during the 1960s, while suffering critical--and personal--disapproval.
- Biography
- Discography
- Legacy
Details for your written assignment:Written Information: As you enter information, the area will expand. Make sure to check the required details of the assignment.
Wes Montgomery was noted for his incredible technique for playing octaves on the guitar.
Works Cited
Sources: Include the source information for all of the articles or web sites that were used to complete your project. Source information is found at the end of each article in iCONN.They should also be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation.
sample:
"Wes Montgomery." Contemporary Musicians. Vol. 3. Detroit: Gale, 1990. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 10 Jan. 2012.
"Wes Montgomery." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 88. Detroit: Gale, 2011. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 13 Jan. 2012.
Guitarist Research Notes Table
could not read music
known as "Wes" from an early age
His inability to read music led to his development of a fine ear; he heard music rather than saw it on a page.
At the age of nineteen, shortly after he was married, Montgomery heard a recording of "Solo Flight" by the Benny Goodman Orchestra with Charlie Christian on guitar. The impression was such that Montgomery immediately purchased an electric guitar, an amplifier, and as many Christian recordings as he could find, listening carefully to the guitar solos and learning to play them note for note. Montgomery's neighbors complained about the noise, however, so he abandoned the guitar pick in favor of plucking the strings with his thumb. He found the resulting sound mellow and pleasing. Later, while experimenting with different styles and approaches, he discovered the technique that would become his signature. Gary Giddins, in Riding on a Blue Note, explains: "Almost as an extension of that dulcet, singing tone, he began to work in octaves--voicing the melody line in two registers."
established a distinctive, highly influential style characterized by the use of his thumb instead of a traditional pick.
2) In 1967, Montgomery recorded A Day in the Life. The title track not only became a popular hit, but the album became the best-selling jazz album of 1967 and one of the best-selling jazz albums of all time.
What do you like about his/her style?
Legendary guitarist Joe Pass simply says this about Montgomery's place in musical history: "To me, there have been only three real innovators on the guitar--Wes Montgomery, Charlie Christian, and Django Reinhardt," as cited in James Sallis's The Guitar Players. This high praise is a testament to the ability of a man of contradictions: Montgomery was a musician who never learned to read music, and he enjoyed commercial success rarely afforded to jazz musicians during the 1960s, while suffering critical--and personal--disapproval.